Newsroom & Insights: August 2016

While traveling from chapter to chapter this year, one of the things I’ve always looked out for is new and innovative ideas. We all have them, and sharing those ideas is a great way to network with other IEC members. The proof can be found every year at the IEC National Convention. The Great Idea Swap session at IEC Con is always the highest attended education session, often with standing room only.

Over the past decade, the electrical industry has done a great job of recognizing the ergonomic safety issues caused by the use of manual tools. The negative effects these tools have caused on the body and risk to ergonomic injury make workers more injury prone and create hidden dangers on job sites. During this same period of time, some electrical tool manufacturers have listened to the voice of the electrical industry and have constantly innovated and invented new tools and features to improve the safety, accountability, and ergonomics of electrical tools in the marketplace.

Over one hundred attendees from twenty-two companies were represented at MCA’s annual symposium (Fig 1). Attendees included owners, general contractors, subcontractors, and distributors. Contractors in attendance varied from electrical to mechanical, and included all stakeholders from executive management to foremen. They all collaborated on topics on increasing productivity and profitability within the construction industry.

There are many specialized hand and power tools that electrical contractors (EC) use every day to help save time and money. Beyond these physical implements, however, there is a wealth of online tools available, which can be equally valuable.

It’s no secret that the nature of work is shifting. Across all industries, the makeup of the workforce continues to evolve as baby boomers increasingly retire and millennials become the largest demographic among U.S. employees. Amidst the Digital Age, new connected technologies and the proliferation of available information have transformed buzzwords like the cloud, digitization, Internet of Things, and big data into inescapable components of business operation and strategy. Established industry titans are looking for ways to maintain their market share against emerging disruptors with new products, services, and business models.